


Strange Remind

by ColdKate



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Mostly Positive, Polyamory, Slow Burn, Trans Female Character, Trans!Max, pricemarshfield
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:47:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24574051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColdKate/pseuds/ColdKate
Summary: After leaving everything behind for five years, Max Caulfield returns to her childhood hometown to study photography at Blackwell. But her time in Seattle has changed everything. She has transitioned into a girl and nobody in Arcadia Bay knows. Max just tries to live a normal student life, though being aware that her past might catch up with her, sooner or later...
Relationships: Kate Marsh/Chloe Price, Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Chloe Price, Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Kate Marsh, Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Kate Marsh/Chloe Price
Comments: 42
Kudos: 78





	1. Restart

It's way too early when Max hears the music coming from the stereo, gently pushing her out of her dreams. Soft sun rays are lighting up the room and kissing her feet, as she struggles to open her eyes. Her consciousness is trying to make sense of her surroundings. The first thing she recognizes is the pile of untouched moving boxes next to her bed. It's only been one day since she got into Blackwell and she barely had enough time to unpack the most important stuff, but just being in this town already feels like home again.

Five years ago, she needed the distance from her old life more than anything, but waking up in Arcadia Bay _as her real self_ might correct all the wrong memories of this place. It wasn't an easy decision, though. Her parents were worried and she was scared of coming back to her past and all the problems it might cause. Especially if Chloe is at Blackwell which isn't that unlikely. How could she even explain-

The second alarm comes from her phone and reminds her that it's time to apply her gel. Max slowly gets out of her bed and stumbles to the dresser. She had covered the cylinder with an old hairspray sticker, just in case. As if people would even know what it is, but rumors are the last thing she needs right now. When she pushes the top, a transparent blob drops onto her arm. It feels ice-cold on her skin, but that's nothing compared to the euphoria of being on hormones. A small and easier to hide spiro tablet follows just after. She got her first dose of both about a year ago and so far they really did some magic. At least nobody said anything or looked suspicious when she moved into the girl dormitories.

Max's gaze wanders to her desk and she sits down, looking at the confirmation letter from Blackwell again. She still can't believe they actually accepted her real name. She remembers that someone at the welcome event said, the school generally changed for the better, got more inclusive and stuff after Raymond Wells lost his position as principal. He was accused of doing some sketchy investor deals or so. If that led to her not having to write _Maximilian_ on anything, so let it be. She is Maxine Caulfield, no matter what a stupid piece of paper says.

Once the gel soaked in, it's time to get dressed. She pulls on her favourite pink doe shirt, hoodie and jeans, then takes a long look into the mirror. All she sees is the reflection of a girl who's about to have her first class at an Academy... Max wants to capture that exact moment. She grabs her instant camera and focuses it on her mirror universe version. As she pushes the lower shutter button to not trigger the flash, the image gets ejected and she drops it into her bag. First photo back in the Bay and many more to come.

But Max has to leave her cocoon eventually, if she doesn't want to be late. She takes a last look at the room to sort her head. Please let this day go well...

When she steps out, the hallway has almost emptied. Classes for new students start one hour later and everyone else is probably already on campus. Maybe it's better that way.

But then a door on the other side opens and a girl with blond hair, pinned up to a huge bun comes out. She's wearing a blue denim skirt and a carmine red jacket on top of a bright shirt. A small golden cross dangles from her neck. Max watches her for slightly too long.

"Oh, hi. You're going to the art lecture, too?" the girl asks as she notices her.

"Uh, yeah." she says trying not to sound as nervous as she is right now. She can't remember the last time someone started a conversation with her. "I'm Max. You must be Kate, right?"

"Right." she answers with a smile, but it vanishes quickly. "Sorry, if I'm bothering you. It's just that I haven't really talked to anybody yet."

"No, no, it's fine. I was just surprised." Max hesitates a bit before she explains "I'm more used to being invisible to other people."

"I know that well." Kate sighs. Then her smile returns. "So, you're here to study art, as well?"

"Not exactly. I got into the photography specialized program, but we'll probably share a lot of courses."

"Oh nice, I'm in photography class, too. Although, I'm not really talented with cameras." She looks dreamily at the ceiling. "I'm more into drawing."

Max remembers her drawing phases from time to time. She always gave up on her clumsiness, but she's still interested. "Cool! What kind of?"

"Mostly cartoon characters. My goal is to design childrensbooks some day." Kate replies.

"That's so sweet. I bet you'll be a great artist."

"Thanks Max... If only my parents would think so." Her legs suddenly shake a bit. "Uhm, can we talk on our way? Don't wanna be late on my first day, you know..."

"Oh, of course." Max still feels a little awkward and she's worried about her being obviously religious. But Kate seems to be nice. Maybe she can even do the impossible and finally make a friend.

They leave the dormitory building and step into a warm October morning. Fall hasn't caused the trees to drop their leaves yet, but they already shine in beautiful orange-red tones. Max can't help but take this opportunity for a photo...

Kate smiles when she first sees her in action with the instant camera and it makes her realize that they have a lot to catch up. They talk about all kind of stuff, how they got into Blackwell, where they've been before... They get on extremely well and Max only has to distract from a topic once, when an answer would've reached too far into her past. Other than that, they're completely on the same wavelenght and Kate is so nice to her. It turns out, she is a faithful Christian, but not like Max had feared. As far as she can tell, she has a great open heart.

She manages to take two more shots before they reach the stairs to the main campus area. She admires this place. It's basically a small castle garden with a fountain statue in the middle. Except that trees aren't in geometrical shapes and instead of a hedge maze, there are a dozen art panels, showcasing student projects and famous artists. When they pass them, Max carefully brings up a question.

"Sorry if I'm being nosy, but you seemed a bit stressed out when your family came up earlier. Is everything okay?"

Kate suddenly avoids eye contact. "Yeah, I mean... not really. We had some arguments lately."

"Like, serious ones?" she follows up, but immediately back-pedals "Sorry, that's probably none of my business."

"It's okay, Max." Kate lets out a long sigh before she continues. "It's just my parents... They didn't really appreciate me leaving for Blackwell."

"What, why would they?" 

"They... they had other ideas for my future. My mom was actually shocked when I talked about wanting to be an artist and it got even worse..." She stops.

Max suddenly feels this strong force inside of her. "Kate, I'm sorry. But this is your life. You should do what you think is right for you, no one else."

"I know..." She raises her head again. "But it still is hard to disappoint them."

"Can they really be disappointed if you do what you love?"

"Trust me, they can. But I guess that's why I'm here." Kate grins slightly.

Max just wants to hug her. "I'm glad you are."

She won't let her say such bad things about herself, but Kate seems to know how to deal with it. Or she's just good at hiding how much it's really hurting her. Max cannot imagine how it is to have an unsupportive family, but at least she can show her that she belongs somewhere.

They continue their way towards the main building and Kate seems like nothing happened again. At least her eyes have regained that optimistic glow from before.

"Thanks Max, I needed that. You're actually the first one I talked to about this."

"Oh... Any time, Kate. Seriously, I'm here for you."

"Thanks again." Her lips return into her usual smile. "But I don't wanna worry about it anymore. We are here now. Let's go enjoy our first day at Blackwell."

"Yes, you're right."

They walk by the fountain and Kate is definitely her cheerful self again. She even dives one hand into its basin, only to splash some drops in the air. Max isn't sure if this is some kind of ritual or Kate just being herself. It doesn't matter.

But when they finally stand in front of the entrance, it's Max who needs a moment to process things... This is where she'll study for the next years. This is her life now. 

The school's facade is really impressive and the rising sun gives it a mystical look, almost as if anything could happen here. She takes a few steps back to capture it forever in the chemicals of her instant film. 

"Girl, you are a human camera." Kate teases.

"I know." she laughs. "Let's get in before I find another subject."

* * *

  
It's in the late afternoon, when Max is lying on her bed again, staring at the ceiling. The day is been going so well and being around Kate felt natural and easy. During classes, they even met a lot of other nice people. There's Warren, a science nerd who's great talking to when it comes to movies, especially sci-fi. And Stella, a smart girl from a higher semester who instantly adopted them. Maybe Blackwell was the right decision.

Then the homework she got today floods her thoughts. The photography teacher, Ms. Paylor, announced a starter project, where everyone has to enter a photo that best represents their personality. The deadline is already on Friday and Max is still clueless what to do.

She has all the time in the world until then, but the thought won't let go. It's her first task and Max is failing it. She might have an eye for everything else, but her head feels super empty when something is supposed to be about her. It's even harder when there's a part of her life that she has to hide, unless she wants everyone's hate and probably being alone again. It's hopeless. Her gaze falls from the ceiling onto the bare wall next to her. Maybe she should just enter a photo of this white emptiness...

But suddenly, an idea strikes. Max gets up and searches her moving boxes. She quickly finds the photo storage containers she brought with her from Seattle and spreads them all over the floor. It's a collection of her favourite shots of all time. What could represent her better than all of these photos in one? Arranging them on the carpet would look nice, but only temporary. This ugly blank space above her bed might be more useful. Plus, it's the perfect excuse to finally decorate her room. 

She grabs a tape roller from her desk and attaches one by one to the wall, obviously leaving out some _old_ pictures. The whole process takes much longer than expected and it's already getting dark outside when only half of it is covered, but Max is fixed on the objective. Unfortunately, she hardly has time to properly enjoy each photo, but that can wait until later...

When there's finally almost no space left, she steps back and examines her work. 

There it is. The Max Caulfield Photo Memorial Wall.

For the finishing touch she reroutes some fairy lights right above it all, creating a soft and warm ambient. The lack of sunlight at this time of day makes it look magical.

Perfect. Only one thing left to do...

But right when she's about to grab her camera, someone knocks on the door... She totally forgot time, didn't she. This must be Kate. She is coming over for the movie night.

Max quickly tidies the floor of leftover images and checks if everything is clean before opening her. She only realizes how late it must be, as Kate is already standing there, wearing t-shirt and pajama pants. 

"Hi, Max." She smiles at her. "Were you planning to go out tonight?"

She lets out a giggle. "No, I've just been a little busy the last hours. How are you?"

"I'm fine... just a bit overwhelmed by everything. Stella and her friends led me around campus after my last class. It was nice, but a lot to remember for one afternoon."

"I feel you. I got this over already, but it's great to hear that you're okay. Come on in."

When Kate enters the room, she immediately notices the thing above the bed. "Jeez, this is wonderful. You did all those shots?"

"Yeah." Max touches the back of her head. "I got my camera when I was thirteen and I figured they would be a good subject for the starter project."

"That's so cool." Kate's eyes are scanning the seemingly endless rows. She eventually stops somewhere, probably letting it effect on herself and she literally begins to shine. It takes a while until she finds her words again. "Max, I... I really like them. Seriously, you're awesome. You'll be a great photographer."

Max was never good at handling compliments, but that goes straight to her heart. "Thanks, Kate. It means a lot to me."

"So, can I see it?"

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"The picture. I could need some inspiration for my own entry." she explains.

"Oh, uh, I actually didn't take it yet. But I can do it now, if you want." 

She nods and Max takes the camera from her desk and focuses it on the wall. Kate watches her with interest, but an awkwardly long amount of time passes and she still hesitates to push the shutter button.

"What's wrong?" Kate eventually asks.

"I dunno. I thought this would be a good idea. It may be a nice shot and all, but I feel like it doesn't really represent me." She looks at the ground. "I'm so useless whenever something is about me."

Kate's eyes light up again. "You know, I meant it when I called you a human camera this morning. If you want it to have more personality, then why don't you put yourself in? Not like a selfie, but-"

Max cuts her off. "Kate, this is brilliant... but I can't take that picture myself."

"Mhh... you could ask Stella. She showed me some of her work today. She'll portray you perfectly."

"Actually, I was thinking..." Her index fingers are touching each other. "that maybe you..."

Kate looks incredulously at her when she realizes. "You want me to take it? I mean, I'd like to... but I'll probably just waste you a lot of film." 

"You won't. I believe in you." Max hands her the camera.

She hesitates, but then takes it with a firm grip. "Okay, I'll try. But don't be mad at me when I fail."

"How could I be? You're my friend, Kate."

That makes her beam with joy. "You're right. Okay, just turn around and focus on the wall. You know... that kinda look you always have before taking a picture."

Max doesn't really understand what she means, but she acts exactly like Kate told her to. Only this time she fully appreciates all these memories in front of her. There's that hockey game she and her dad had won tickets for, the skyline of Seattle, a ton of selfies and her first time wearing a dress...

A sigh goes through her mind. This one question that she's been asking herself all day. What if Kate somehow finds out? Should she tell her? - No. Max refuses to believe that she would hate her, but it's still better if she doesn't know. It probably wouldn't be that hard to just say nothing, if there wasn't this one problem. It's something about Kate that... that she kinda likes more than just friendship-wise...

The sudden bright flash and the familiar ejecting noises of the camera behind her interrupt her thoughts. "Oh, that was kinda easy." Kate says.

Max needs some time before she replies. "Yeah, the hardest part of photography is actually finding the right subject. We have to wait a bit for it to develop, though."

"I can imagine... I still don't know what I should enter and I'm not as creative as you."

"But this was your idea, Kate. Don't be so harsh on yourself. I've no doubt that you will find something and I'll help you where I can."

Her face brightens. "Would you do that for me?"

"Of course, like you did. And I think Ms. Paylor wouldn't mind if we do a little cross collab." She smiles at her.

Kate returns it, directly looking into her eyes. "Max, you have a great soul."

"You too..." This time she hugs her for real. It's a long and powerful one and Max probably needed it herself. They stay like this for a while, enjoying the presence of each other. Then she places both hands on Kate's shoulders with a grin. "We still have a movie to watch."

"Oh yes, I almost forgot about that."

Max carries her laptop from the desk and puts it on the floor. They sit down next to one another and she sets everything up. But when she's about to ask what to watch, she notices that Kate doesn't seem to be able to take her eyes off the desktop.

"Uhm, is everything okay?" Max asks.

"Huh? Yeah, it's just, can we..." She points at the Steam icon. "I have never played a game in my life. I've seen videos and stuff, but my parents never let me."

This hits her. Max remembers a time, when video games were her only escape from the world and Kate couldn't even do that. "Oh... Forget about the movie, what do you wanna play?"

"I dunno. Nothing scary, though."

"No problem." Max gives her an encouraging look. "How about we first start with something simple to get you into the basic controls?" 

"That sounds like a plan." she replies excitedly.

It takes her some time to get used to keyboard and mouse, but Kate learns pretty fast for someone who hasn't played before. After she got a bit into it, they spend the rest of the evening exploring fantasy worlds, running themeparks and solving portal puzzles. But Max has never seen her happier than when she finished her first wooden house in Minecraft. She's just adorable.

Over the course of the night, they work their way up to more complex games and she discovers the perks of multiplayer. Before Max realizes, they ended up in a chaotic sea battle between pirates and the British navy. Kate's poor attempts to talk in sailor's slang give her the rest... 

It's getting very late though and her eyelids begin to feel heavy. It must've been hours already, but being with Kate, laughing and playing together makes time totally fly. Max closes her eyes for a moment... She wishes this day could last forever. Everything went so much better than she could've hoped for. Blackwell turned out to be awesome, people were nice to her and most importantly, she finally has a real friend again.

Kate might be more to her - damn, she might even have a crush, but what are the odds that a Christian would want to be with a trans girl? Kate for sure isn't a cliché type. She is kind, greathearted and understanding and cute... but still...

"Jeez, this was a three sixty no scope!"

Max can't help but giggle. And she would've never expected her to be a gamer at heart. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading chapter 1 of Strange Remind. It's my very first fanfic and actually my first time writing at all. This alone took me almost a month and I'm doing this more or less for myself, so expect irregular updates.


	2. Beacon

Max completely lost herself in the colors and shapes that now really come into their own with the light of the rising sun. She's not aware of her surroundings anymore and everything else faded into the background. She doesn't know if it's just her tiredness or her feelings associated with it, but the colors look so vibrant and real to her, almost as if it's a window to the past...

She has been staring at the photo for quite a while now and the gel must have dried into her arm long ago, but it's just too captivating. She has never given her camera to anyone else before, nevertheless she trusted Kate and that makes this image even more special. Objectively, it's just her from behind, looking at the photo wall, but the detail and atmosphere in that shot are indescribable. It's like seeing with Kate's eyes. She gave her a new perspective on herself. On a nerdy note, it kinda reminds Max of when she played her first game as a female character years ago, with the difference that this is her she's looking at.

Enough philosophical geek thoughts for now. She puts it back on her desk and stretches her arms. While doing so, she takes a full glance at the room. Now that everything is more or less in place, she can definitely call it her home. The empty moving boxes went folded under her bed and in the corner where pretty much everything was piled up before, her houseplant Lisa is now catching some morning sun rays. She remembers to give her a sip of water and checks what time it is. She had promised Kate to come by her room before class and Max doesn't want to show up at the last minute. She runs a few fingers through her hair...

It's almost dry again. For Kate alone, she would've gotten up earlier, but Max had to shower today anyway. As on class trips back then, she had sneaked out her room at five in the morning to make sure that she's by herself. It's exhausting, but a situation where only a curtain separates her from a real nightmare outing is just too scary for now... She is comfortable with her body and actually couldn't care less about what's between her legs, but Max fears how people might treat her because of that. So better avoid this risk at the cost of some sleep, at least until she feels safe enough. 

It's slowly getting louder in front of her door now and dull music comes from somewhere across the floor which means that it won't take much longer until everyone's definitely awake. She sits down on her couch again and tries to relax a few more minutes by playing her guitar...

It feels so good to just close her eyes and let the thoughts fully drift by the sounds of the vibrating strings. She can only play a hand-full of tracks, but Max connects a lot of emotions with those she does. Mostly because they bring up the memories of some fictional story games or the vibes of a revolution from her favorite dystopian movie, which was the reason she wanted to learn an instrument in the first place. Her gaze switches now frequently from the photo wall across from her, to her fingers on the guitar and back into the comfortable darkness of her eyelids.

When it's about time, she gets up, leans the guitar back against the side of the couch and checks her phone. They haven't agreed on when to meet exactly, but Kate was pretty determined yesterday for her to come over. Maybe she's got an idea for her photo or even a plan. Max had accepted the fact that Kate probably wouldn't want her as more than a friend, but she's happy to be able to help her. She puts on her bag and heads for the door, ready to leave...

At this hour the hallway isn't as empty as yesterday. She smiles friendly towards some familiar faces and steps out.

But as soon as she does that, she almost gets run over by a girl who had quite a fast pace for her to react. Stella has to do an impressive evasive maneuver with the cardboard box she carries.

"Oh. Sorry, Stella. I didn't see you coming."

"Hey, no problem. It was kinda my fault, actually. Should've expected some sleepy student zombies." she laughs.

"Yeah, that describes me perfectly right now. You seem to be in a hurry, though. I don't want to get in your way or anything."

"It's okay. I'm just a bit in a rush since my fellow project partner forgot to organize his work materials. He's lucky I'm always planning for two..." She does a gesture with the box. "Anyway, how's it going?"

"Oh, uh, great so far. I'm slowly beginning to feel like home here. I know, it's only been one day of school, but Blackwell seems to be really nice."

"Nice, huh? You might just think so cause we weren't allowed to put up our _flee while you still can_ posters this year... Kidding. Can't wait for class, can you? If I'm right, your schedule won't start until in an hour."

"Yeah, you're right... but I'm not that committed. I was about to go to Kate."

Stella smiles. "Well in that case I don't wanna hold you up any longer. You two are cute together." And without expecting a response she sets off again. "Catch you later, Max."

Okay, that was kinda weird... Max turns around and makes her way past Victoria's clique, a group of people she really doesn't want to be in trouble with, until she finally stands in front of Kate's door. From outside all of them look the same, but even if she wouldn't know, the slate featuring a doodle of a black and white bunny with a floral wreath on its head can only belong to one person... She's really talented at drawing. Max waits a second and then gently knocks on the door.

"Come in." her voice says from inside.

She pushes the handle and enters a bright and colorful dorm room. It looks basically like a mirrored version of hers, except for the furniture. And a lot tidier for sure... Kate sits at her desk with something like a sketch book in front of her.

"Hey, Kate."

"Morning, Max." Her yawn turns it into a smile. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah. Although not quite long enough to be honest. But I guess, we both had a lot of fun yesterday." Max grins.

"Definitely. You know, we should do that again some time. I really enjoyed diving into all these amazing worlds with you."

"Same. I mean, you can always come over, when you like. And we could also catch up on our movie night sometime."

"That too." Kate agrees.

Max notices the pages on the desk in front of her, the pen still on the paper. "Can I ask what you're doing?"

"Oh, this... These are just a couple of sketches and trials, nothing special yet."

She takes a closer glance at the notebook... Kate drew three young pirate characters in a set of different expressions and postures, one more adorable than the other. And on the next page Max can already recognize the outlines of a pretty detailed ship deck.

"They look great, though. I love your art style!"

"Thanks. Seriously, a few of the games gave me actual inspiration for some of my projects. I'm currently planning a couple of backgrounds for my first story book."

"Hey, that's awesome. I can't wait to see some of your work. Who knows, maybe someday I'll even play a game featuring your art."

Kate has to laugh. "Well, I highly doubt that. I do draw on my tablet from time to time, but I prefer the traditional paper."

"That's valid. I mean, technically you keep up better with the times than I do." Max smirks. "But for real, I like your art. I must admit, I was already tempted to take a picture of the bunny doodle on your room slate."

"Oh, you noticed?" Kate beams. "That's Alice. You can say hello to her, if you want."

"Alice?" Max asks a little confused.

"Yes, you haven't seen her yet? Maybe she's a bit shy today or just hasn't finished eating yet..."

She gets up and Max scans the room for a cage that she hasn't noticed, but there isn't any. Instead, Kate heads for a big hooded thing in the corner that looks more like a cat's litter box. Before she's even there yet, a small white rabbit with black eyes and ears actually hops out of the hole in the front. Her heart melts when Kate sits down on the edge of the bed and the bunny jumps onto her lap.

"Awww, she's so cute!"

"Yeah, right? She means the world to me. Whenever I had a bad day, her paws in my arms always made me feel better."

"I can imagine." Max sits down next to her. "You two look like a great team."

"We are." Kate replies while petting the bunny's head. "I share almost everything with her."

Max grins. "I see that." Then she lowers her gaze slightly. "I feel dumb for expecting her to be in a cage, earlier."

"Yeah... don't blame yourself for that. I also did this mistake when I first got her. It's the biggest misconception about these animals." She gives her an encouraging smile. "Do you wanna hold her, too?"

"Can I? I mean... I'd like that."

"Sure. Just wait for her to come to you." Kate gets a bit closer and guides her carefully towards Max. Alice seems a little nervous about the strange scent at first, but this quickly turns into curiosity. After just a couple of minutes and friendly pats she lays full length on her lap, snuggling up to her shirt.

"She's so adorable. I like her."

"Yeah, she loves cuddling in the morning." 

Kate watches her with a beaming face, getting along and bonding with Alice for a long time, until she eventually starts playing kinda nervously with the cross on her neck. 

"I don't wanna interrupt you girls, but I have to go to my illustration class in a bit and uhm... I wanted to ask you something about the starter project."

"Oh, do you have an idea for your photo yet?" Max asks.

"No, not really, but... there's this café with a tearoom in town and I was thinking that... maybe we could make a plan there today. Do you have time after school?"

* * *

It's just after four when Kate and her get off the bus in the north of Arcadia Bay. It was the last stop before the town sign and just leads to a small dirt parking lot, half surrounded by forest. The café they're heading for is located a little off the main road, almost hidden in the green, but Max knows that this was once a popular hiking route to the lighthouse.

They pass a few cars with mostly non-local license plates and an old RV, before reaching the entrance to the outdoor area of the café. The half-timbered house looks like it's been there for at least a century, but the blooming flowers under the shutters and around the tables seem really welcoming. She can faintly remember going here a couple of times, but of course she had spent most of her childhood at the Two Whales... A wooden sign tells them that the tearoom is down some separate stairs around the corner...

Judging from the outside, she was afraid there'd be stuffed animals or hunting trophies on the walls, but to her surprise the interior of this old basement structure turns out to be very pleasant. There aren't that many people besides them, so Kate and her choose a comfortable booth to sit in and soon after, a waiter takes their orders... Max has always been sticking with mint tea since the days she read and believed it would reduce t-levels. It didn't work, but she's come to know and love it. Kate on the other hand orders the _specialty of the house_ , a mix of only local herbs according to the menu card.

When their tea arrives both carefully take a first sip with their eyes meeting in a moment of silence. Kate looks so pretty and sweet, and she smiles so much when they're together... Max is more than happy to be able to spend time with her. She lets the delicious fluid warm up her cheeks and watches Kate, also lowering her cup again.

"Does it-" Max coughs as she realizes her mistake. "Sorry-" Another cough. "Seems like I was a little too hasty there... God, my clumsiness." she smiles and tries again. "Does it taste good?"

Kate giggles. "Mmhm. Honestly, this is great. I've tried a lot in the school's canteen, but..." She takes another sip. "this one really has something special."

Max does the same, this time more cautious and then lets her gaze wander through the soothing atmosphere of the room. "I can only agree with you. It was a great idea to come here."

Kate nods. "I'm glad you're here with me, Max. I... I haven't been feeling myself lately with the project and everything, but you make me feel like I'm not alone." 

"You know I'm always here for you when you wanna talk." She gently strokes over Kate's free hand on the table. "And you're way more capable than you might think."

"Thank you." she replies with a glow on her face. But it seems to fade with every second she thinks about her words. "I'm not sure if I am, though... I've already scratched my head about this photo and I still don't know what to do."

"That's fine, Kate. Remember, I wasn't any different yesterday. I probably would've even scrapped the plan with the photo wall, if it weren't for you."

"I guess, you're right..." she replies and nips on her tea again. "By the way, I haven't seen the developed result yet. Do you have it with you?" 

"Oh, of course..." Max searches her bag and gives it to her. "Your picture turned out awesomely."

Kate holds it exactly like she did this morning, letting it effect on herself for a minute before she can judge. "Yeah, this image represents you perfectly..." She lets out a sigh. "I can't believe I took it."

"But you did." She gives her an encouraging smile. "So, before we start thinking of a plan for yours..." She reaches into her bag again. "I noticed this morning that you still own an actual cassette player. I have everything on CD now and I thought you could use it better." She hands Kate a caseless yellowish music tape. 

"That's so sweet of you, what's on it?"

"It says _Angel by Koethe_. I don't know, it must've somehow slipped into my moving stuff. I figured you might like it."

"That's nice, thank you." She takes it gratefully and examines the label from up close, followed by another sigh. "Yeah, my life would be so much easier if I were an angel..."

"I mean, I saw your anti-bullying and support club posters around campus today. You haven't been there for two days and you're already spreading so much positivity. I think, you already are the angel of Blackwell."

Max notices that Kate's face brightens a little, but then she still looks kinda absentmindedly into her cup again. What's going on with her? Yes, she was never exactly confident about herself, but she's so different than this morning.

"Kate, I can feel that something's bothering you. Are you still this worried about the project? We'll work this out together, I promised."

She winces a little and hesitates for a moment before she responds. "It's... it's not just about that... Something happened earlier today... but I don't wanna burden you with this, too."

Max closes her hand around hers. "You could never burden me, Kate. Especially not when it's clearly hurting you. What's the matter?"

She stares down at her napkin and replies almost sobbing now. "Okay. Two... two hours ago... I got a call... from my mom. - It was so horrible, Max." A tear rolls out of her eye. "She blamed me for leaving, and she threw words at me, terrible words that I didn't know even exist. I just stood there the entire time, not able to say anything. And then she told me... she told me that they don't want to see me ever again." Kate tears up.

"Ohh..." Max switches to her side of the booth and hugs her as tight as she can. "I'm so sorry..."

Kate buries her face in her shoulder. "I wanted to enjoy this day with you so bad, but everything keeps pushing against that. It's like I'm not allowed to be happy."

"No, no, I'm here. I know that's not much but I... Shit, I'm so sorry you had to go through this."

"It's not your fault." she sobs. "I should've expected this sooner or later... but it means a lot to me that you care."

"I do." Max has to wipe away a tear from her own face. "But no one should expect something like this."

Both remain that way for a while, arms clasped tight around each other, until Kate eventually recovers a bit. She can really sense the massive load that must've gotten off her mind. Max then offers her to drink the rest from her cup, as she had barely taken more than two sips from it, and Kate empties the now just lukewarm fluid in almost one go. 

"Thanks for always being there for me... I'm sorry how this all went."

"Kate, listen to me... you have nothing to be sorry about. Come on, I know a place where you should be right now..."

* * *

From the parking lot outside the café it was only a ten-minute walk until they're almost at the lighthouse. Evening sun rays are dancing with every movement of the trees above them and casting vivid shadows on the ground. So far, Kate's mood has improved with every step they've taken. Max begins to feel the chill and pleasant wind blowing through her hair as they're approaching the final slope to the headland. She had already noticed that she was still holding Kate's hand when they left their table, but since then neither of them has decided to let go.

When they arrive at the top, she is immediately awed by the view on the orange-red sea.

"Wow, this is amazing!"

"It is." Max smiles at her. "Welcome to the best spot in Arcadia Bay."

They reach the old bench in front of the cliff and sit down close to one another, facing the calm ocean in the evening sun.

"You can say that again. I had no idea you can go here." 

"Yeah... officially it's not a public area anymore since the lighthouse was closed to visitors, but when I was young I always came here with a friend. It was kinda our hangout." 

"Understandable, I mean, given that setting. Jeez, you can see the whole town from up here..." She scopes the horizon until her eyes meet Max again. "What happened to you then?"

How much she would like to tell her everything right now, but Kate doesn't need another shock after what just happened. "My family had to move to Seattle and things changed so much..." She sighs at the thought of the pain. "We haven't seen each other since then."

"Oh... that must've been hard for you."

"It was." She looks into the distance of the sea. "Sometimes, I wish I could go back in time and tell my past self to do a lot differently." She thinks about it for a moment and turns back to her. "But then I probably wouldn't be here with you now."

"True..." Kate replies with a smile.

They both watch the horizon for a while, just listening to the gentle waves that are crashing against the rocks below them. Then it's Max who eventually breaks the silence.

"Is it a stupid question to ask how you're doing?"

"Not at all. Since we got here, I'm feeling better than ever. And you know what..." She takes out the cassette she gifted her and grins. "I think, you've given me an idea for my photo. Would you like to assist me with that tomorrow?"

Max glows. "Yes, of course. That's so great to hear. Whatever it is, I believe in you."

Kate leans her head against her. "Me too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the nice comments under the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed this one aswell. It took me way longer than expected and especially the tearoom scene was just extremely hard to write for me. Thanks to everyone who's patient with this fic.


	3. Pupa

**Kate**

Hey, are you still awake?

_10/08 11:26 pm_

yes, just finished some homework after u left^^

Whats on your mind?

_10/08 11:27 pm_

Nothing. FINALLY

Before I go to bed I just wanted to thank u again

for everything today :)

_10/08 11:28 pm_

I'd never let you down Kate (^ - ^)

You mean a lot to me. I want u to know that

_10/08 11:28 pm_

I do and you too^^

Well, I think it's time for me to catch some sleep now...

Be sure to visit Alice tmrw, tho. She already misses you

_10/08 11:30 pm_

Absolutely. And you really earned some rest after today

Night Kate^^

_10/08 11:31 pm_

Good night, Max <3

_10/08 11:31 pm_

Hey, where are you right now?

_10/09 02:05 pm_

Hi, what's up?

still in class, but I'll be free in 2 hours

_10/09 02:08 pm_

Great!

I was hoping we could take my pic later together^^

_10/09 2:09 pm_

Sure, do you have a plan?

_10/09 02:09 pm_

Yes, but I need your knowledge of place :)

I only have to work until 4. Meet at the fountain?

_10/09 02:10 pm_

Aye! c u then XOXO

_10/09 02:11 pm_

  
_typing..._

"That doesn't look like research, Max... You know my rules, please put it away." Ms. Grant warns her friendly from the front teacher's desk and Max follows, sliding the phone with a short apology back into her messenger bag.

She was just finished giving the class a science lecture about optics and lens refraction for the last half an hour and although there's plenty of math involved, it really seemed like an interesting topic for the day... at least until she split them up for partner work.

Max had first hoped she could compensate her rather poor trigonometry skills with Warren again, but unfortunately she wasn't that lucky this time. The complete opposite, to be exact, because today she should have the _honor_ to be assigned to none other than Victoria Chase, an already popular and snobbish photography student who's predominantly caught her attention with acting like she's better than everyone since the first day. Actually, she might not be that far from the truth since her family seems to be able to afford her almost anything from the latest equipment, but what Max really dislikes about her is that she still decides to put down those who can't.

It was then when she had tried to hide behind her phone, enduring the first five minutes that Victoria of course had to spend commenting on her _generic_ style and clothes. After a while of that, Max looks helplessly to Ms. Grant, but no chance she'd hear them over the other's mumbling now...

"Hello? Are you even listening, Max?!"

"Huh?" She turns around again. "Yeah, I... Sorry, what did you say?"

Victoria darts a disapproving look at her. "I _asked_ where you got that antique scrap of a camera there... Last time I saw one of these was on a junk market. You're actually going to use this for school?"

Max lets out a sigh, still not able to hold her gaze properly and therefore tries to ignore the disparaging remarks. "I like the old instant film. It makes each shot a bit more special. Not something you can just delete or mess around with."

"Oooh, the shy hipster wants to be special, huh? Don't think you could ever win a contest with that..."

"We'll see." Max replies, as if she'd even have the confidence yet to sign up for one.

"Oh, we definitely will. But better keep your shy mouth shut, once you get in the spotlight of the real art world. _The Daguerreian process, sir._ " She rolls with her eyes. "You could barely even say that this morning. I guess you got your meds filled."

Max exhales in annoyance. "Come on... can we just focus on our task? I want to get this done before class ends. You don't?"

Victoria crosses her arms. "So, you can hang out with that lame church girl again, am I right?" She lifts up her chin. "Let me tell you that you're surrounding yourself with the wrong sort of people, Caulfield."

A mix of anger and frustration starts building up in Max. "You don't know her. Besides, why do you care? She is so much more than that."

"Oh, I'm suuuure she is. I saw how you two came back, arms all over each other, yesterday evening. Pathetic..." She suddenly gets a lot closer to the table, as if she'd actually be concerned about someone hearing her now. "Listen... I can forgive your little confusion for the first few days. New school, new town, I get that. Why not spend your time with someone capable of having fun with, from now on? You could even join the Vortex Club."

Max doesn't know if she's more grossed out by the lack of human decency in this conversation or the thought of her becoming a member of that elite party club. "I seriously doubt that we have the same definition of fun, thanks."

Victoria leans back in her chair again. "What a waste. Maybe it needs something that will test your innocent girl's faith to get you back on track."

"Leave her alone! I swear, Victoria, if I see you harassing her... She's just been going through some serious crap."

"Are you her guardian angel now?! Fine... I promise I won't get in the way of you bambi lesbos."

She gets up fitfully and almost trips over her own chair, before returning to her normal seat and leaving a clueless Max behind at the table. Ms. Grant sees that and finally decides to step in.

"Hey, what's going on there in the back? You two seemed to do nothing but chatter for the last couple of minutes and now you refuse to work together at all?"

"No, I... I mean, we..."

"Save your excuses, Max. I've warned you before. After all, this is an educational institution. Nobody here forces you to learn, but not participating and disturbing your fellow students who are willing to is just... I never thought I'd have to say that, but I think it's better if you leave my class for today. Both of you."

Victoria spits out a loud of bewilderment. "What? You can't just-"

"I can, Ms. Chase. It didn't seem like you were that interested in my lecture anyway. Now, would you please get your things..."

She waits for them to pick up their stuff and then directs them under the curious looks from everyone else outside into the hallway. Obviously, nobody has seen her even close to angry before...

"I'm afraid you'll have to catch up on the subject matter from today's class by yourself. And Max... I honestly didn't expect that kind of disrespectful behavior from you."

She closes the door in front of them, leaving her and Victoria alone in the currently empty corridor.

Max isn't sure if it's just the echo of the large room structure, but Ms. Grant's words seem to hauntingly resound in her ears for quite a while... until everything gets drowned by the furious voice right next to her.

"You've made an excellent job with that, Caulfield! I hope you're satisfied now. Well, wait until this incompetent astro-witch hears from my lawyer..." With that she walks off into the distance and disappears behind the next swing door to a stairwell.

Max then just slumps down at the wall behind her, reaching the floor with only one thought left in her mind... What the hell did just happen?

Suddenly, all of her self-doubts are there again and she tries to close her eyes for a moment, head now resting on her knees. This is just her third day here and she's already screwing up with everyone. Why does this always happen to her? Why can't she just be the silent girl that doesn't get involved in this high school bullshit? She thought things would get easier, now that she's technically an adult, but apparently no. If only Kate was here right now... She could really need a hug from her.

Max startles up as she notices the creak of a door somewhere to her left. Nobody should see her meltdown about such a stupid thing. She needs a timeout. Right now.

She gets up and tries to walk as confident as she can along the hallway, passing locker after locker and floor tile after floor tile, a never ending pattern that makes her almost feel like the corridor is torturing her, giving her brain the illusion to never escape this hell of thoughts, until she finally reaches the foyer with the girl's bathroom to her right.

It has turned out to be more or less a safe space for her since most students seem to use the modern one in the cafeteria. And at this time it should be empty anyway. She presses the handle and enters the room, expecting having to wait a few seconds for the motion triggered lights to flicker on, only to find out that they already are... She is not alone.

A tall girl with neon blue hair, navy beanie and a bullet necklace is standing at one of the sinks, scribbling something on the mirror in front of her. She's wearing a short black leather jacket, patched jeans, high solid boots and a white tank top with a skull on it. The moment she turns around and notices Max, the pen that she was drawing with drops out of her hand and lands with a thrumming sound in the sink...

Silence. Awkward silence in which the girl's face slowly becomes pale and she just looks at her with her mouth now hanging wide open.

Max loses track of how much time has passed since she got in here and she hasn't even moved an inch. Why does this girl keep staring at her? She hasn't done anything weird or wrong, has she? Unless... Shit, Max has never encountered someone in here before. Does she suspect something? Oh, please don't let this be a terf...

The blue haired girl takes a careful step forward, but then stops, noticeably scanning her from head to toe. After a while she finally seems to have regained control over her mouth again, but her face is still full of confusion.

"Max?"

The blood in Max's veins freezes immediately. That voice... She knows that voice. Old memories are flooding her brain, in spite of the circumstances back then, mostly positive ones. It might've been five years, but how could she ever forget about this voice and who it belongs to. It's a bit smokier than she remembers and it doesn't fit at all to what her eyes see. But this can be none other in front of her... than her childhood best friend, Chloe Price.

"Holy shit... you are a girl?"

Max looks nervously from side to side. The initial shock gets replaced with a strong urge to just run. She isn't prepared for this at all. Not only does she have to explain herself, she also has no clue what to say to someone she has left years in the dark without a call or even a text.

"Chloe, I-"

Chloe notices her gaze and takes another careful step in her direction. "Hey don't worry... we're alone." She rubs the back of her head, a tattoo coming to light under her sleeve. "I, uh... guess I'm not quite up to date with you anymore." She attempts a smile, but ends up just biting her lip.

Max is still overwhelmed by the situation and she has to muster all her courage to respond with at least some coherent words.

"Yeah..." she finally manages to conquer the logjam in her throat. "Things kinda changed in Seattle..." is everything she can come up with.

"Well, obviously..." Chloe looks incredulously up and down at her again. "Shit, I should've asked... I mean... shit, you aren't nonbinary or something like that, are you?"

Max can still hear how her pulse races, but with that she tries to calm down a little. There is no more reason for her to hide anyway.

"No, you were right..." She shyly kneads her left elbow. "I am still Max, but... it's short for Maxine now. I'm a girl."

Chloe nods. "I get that." She's able to put on a genuine smile now. "Shit, it's been a hella long time since I've last seen you. I thought you abandoned me like everybody else, but I had no idea..."

"I am so so sorry about that, Chloe. I know I had promised to keep in touch after we moved, but then..." Max's eyes fill with tears.

"No, it's..." Chloe pauses for a moment. The pain of leaving her behind seemingly hasn't healed to this day. "It's okay. You had your reasons to be scared. Heck, I should know best how terrible the world can be." She gets a little closer to her. "I just want you to know that I would've fully supported you, even back then. We were best pirates, after all."

That makes Max cry, Chloe now standing almost directly in front of her. Maybe the boots add to it, but she has always been half a head taller than her. "So, you're not mad at me?"

She shakes her head. "No. I mean, I was... But you obviously had far bigger things to deal with than I thought. I cannot imagine how that must've felt like for you." She darts a questioning look at her. "You're up for an awkward hug with your best friend?"

Without thinking twice, Max puts her arms around her and buries her chin in the leather of her jacket. "I just didn't want to be a boy anymore..."

Chloe clasps her back. "Yeah, I see that. Boys are trouble, you know... Glad you discovered you're not one of them." She squeezes her tightly and eliminates the last bit of fear by lifting her up a few inches into the air, like she always did when they were kids. "Welcome home, Max."

Without releasing the hug she lets her down again, giving them both a couple of minutes to think next to the other's head. And there really is a lot to think about. But all that matters right now is that they found each other again.

"Come, let's sit down there for a sec." she nods towards the back corner of the room.

They separate and Chloe makes herself comfortable on the floor, leaning with her back against the tiled part of the wall. Before getting to her, Max takes a short look all the black sharpie graffitis and quotes above her, that she had never payed much attention to until now. She wonders how much of them are Chloe's work and where else she had already seen them in town, almost as if the universe was giving hints that their reunion was just a matter of time...

She sits down across from Chloe, right next to a metal cleaning bucket and leans against the rear side of the last stall - both still more in thoughts than anywhere else...

After a while of sitting in silence and Max beginning to admire her counterpart's entirely new appearance, Chloe finally dares to ask her a question.

"So, uhm, did you like... know that you are trans before you moved?"

"No..." Max senses what this is aimed at. "I mean I felt that something was wrong. But I only really found out a year later."

She nods in relief. "Don't get me wrong, but that's actually kinda good to hear... because the thought just kicked in that you might not have trusted me enough to tell me."

Max shakes her head, so fast that it almost hurts. "Of course I would've trusted you if I had known, Chloe. It's just that with every week and month that passed in Seattle, it got harder and harder to contact you about this. Can you imagine, I felt so torn between my present and past..." She pauses for a second, locking down at her feet now. "that maybe it was part of the reason I applied for Blackwell and to come back here..."

Chloe takes a moment to let that sink in. "Wow, I... I haven't thought about it that way. I had no Idea Seattle kinda sucked that hard for you, too."

Max lowers her gaze slightly more. "Yeah... I mean the city was nice and all, but I haven't had many friends there. None to be exact..."

Chloe pats her knee. "Come on, a cute girl like you... I can hardly believe the guys didn't stand in line to make their lame moves."

That makes her giggle a bit. "I'm not like that... Plus, I only got on hormones like a year ago." She looks up at her again. "By the way, what gave me away?"

"You mean, apart from your brown hair and iconic Caulfield freckles? Then nothing really." she smirks.

Max cannot suppress a sheepish grin. "Okay, fair point... Damn, I guess after all you have actually changed more than me. I mean, I didn't recognize you at first. Blue hair and tattoos isn't exactly the Chloe I remember. It looks good on you, though."

"Thanks." she replies with a smile, but then looks away from her at the ground. "And yeah... After my dad died and you moved, my life got completely turned upside-down, to put it mildly."

Max feels a pinch of guilt in her chest again. "I'm so sorry that I left you alone with this, Chloe. Did something happen?"

She waves it away. "Another time, Max. It's not even about you and I'm not quite in the mood to talk about that. I'm just glad that you're here again."

She pulls a phone out of her pocket and appears to be skimming through some messages, then her fingers quickly type something into it, before sliding it back in.

"I was actually supposed to meet someone here at recess, but you know what..." Chloe rises from the floor. "That dumbass can wait. How about I give you a ride around town, so we can catch up on things?"

With that Max also gets on her feet again. "Yeah, that sounds nice. I need to be back for... a friend by four, though."

"Okay, no problem. But you have no classes now, right?"

She gives her a slightly ashamed smile. "Well, not anymore..."

* * *

Despite having perceived the numerous aspects of the beautiful October weather outside while driving, Max gets immediately caught up in memories of the hot Acradia Bay summers when the rusty pickup truck that Chloe and her had boarded enters the beach's parking lot. They come to a final stop directly in front of the rotten railing, facing the ocean with the all-too-familiar regulation sign right beside them.

NO GLASS BOTTLES

NO SMOKING

NO OPEN FIRES

NO OVERNIGHT CAMPING

  
The engine makes some last stutters as soon as Chloe removes the keys, before she opens the door on her side to hop out. Max on the other hand remains seated for a moment, just admiring the view on the white sand and cold blue water through the slightly scratched windshield which helps her to not completely lose track of reality, as her vision begins to overlap with strange memories...

It reminds her of all the summer weekends their families went here together back then. Her building sand castles with Chloe, romping in the ocean, flying her dad's self made kite when the wind was good, and the day always ending with a Caulfield vs. Price family volleyball match...

Yes, she never felt that comfortable with just her swim trunks on shore, but this was just one of the reasons why most of the day was spent in the water. Like she will never forget how Chloe incessantly pretended to be a shark whenever they played dive hide and seek the waves. A fun game until Chloe's dad brought it to the next level by buying them goggles and snorkels, what Joyce didn't like at all because thenceforward there would only be a piece of plastic showing up on the surface every now and then. But even she hasn't had the heart to ruin the kids fun...

Max sees all of this within spatial reach in front of her, but still so far and wrongly untouchable back in time. After all these years, it feels both good and weird to be here with Chloe again, given how they've taken such different paths in life. Nevertheless, she will gratefully take any chance to reconnect with her best friend.

"Hey, I know one coming out per day is hard, but are you planning to stay in that truck forever?"

That makes Max giggle and she finally releases her seat belt. "No..." she replies while hopping off the vehicle. "I was just thinking about old times. Remember our beach days here?"

Chloe grins. "How could I ever forget about that." She closes the rusty door for her. "It's why I figured this would be a great place to start off our reunion."

Max puts on a childish beam and accompanies her to the other side where the already sand-covered path begins. "That's so nice of you."

It really is, considering that this is also the place where they very first met each other. So, coming here might also be kind of a symbolic act of her. In any case, she's just astonished by how naturally Chloe seems to take all of this...

They follow the partly verdant dike way, surrounded by skew wooden posts and rocks, until the stone slabs under their soles completely disappear in sand. From there, only about a hundred feet of plain white beach seperate them from the sea which actually appears a bit foggier and grayer than yesterday, but still as calm as an ocean could be.

She exchanges a glance with Chloe, only to notice that same impish look on her face like whenever she's been up to something in the past.

"Last one at the water will be fed to the sharks!" she calls before sprinting off.

"Hey, that's so not fair!" Max laughs as she runs after, trying to hold onto her full bag with one hand. Her feet give their best to not immediately lose grip on the soft ground.

"C'mon, you're just a slowpoke!"

"Oh, just you wait!" she shouts while almost catching up.

Though as expected, Chloe is the first one slowing down in front of the crashing shore waves, Max arriving only a second later. They come laughingly and gaspingly to a stop, looking at the sea with their hands on their knees from mild exhaustion. She cannot even remember the last time she did something like that.

"You... you definitely are a slowpoke." Chloe wheezes.

Max gets up from her posture with a grin. "Says the one who's completely pumped out after such a short race?"

That makes her smirk. "Yeah... Goddamn cigs." She also manages to come back up and then fixes her beanie. "You know, it really is kinda weird to hang out with you again. I mean, apart from you being a girl. I honestly missed this."

Max can't express in words how much she feels that. "Yeah, me too."

After another minute of rest, they decide to move on and begin to stroll southbound along the water, frequently swerving together to avoid getting wet shoes as the tide rises besides them. All of this feels exactly like when they were kids, just roaming around town with nothing to worry about, except for maybe being home before dinner, then eventually sneaking in Chloe's house in hopes that Joyce doesn't catch them with their dirty jeans and shirts. Great times, after all...

Having silently walked next to her for a while, Max lets Chloe unawares take the lead for a couple of steps to buy herself some time and quickly dig the camera out of her bag. It looks amazing how the blue haired girl leaves her footprints in the sand, seemingly unfazed by the all forces of nature around her. Hard to believe that she is the same person who's been making fools of her science teachers in middle school, but in Max's eyes it definitely is a glow up.

As soon as the flash faintly fills the daylight atmosphere, followed by the iconic film ejecting noise, Chloe turns around with a giant grin on her face.

"Dude, you still have that camera my dad gifted you five years ago? That's hella cool of you, actually!"

"Not everything changes..." she replies with a smile, ready to take another one of Chloe, now sarcastically giving her both middle fingers.

After taking this second shot too, she makes up the distance between them so they can go on together. But before doing so, she hands Chloe the not yet developed front version of her.

"Here, this one's for you." she gives her the still plain blue image. "Can I save the other one to maybe enter it in a contest?"

Chloe shrugs. "Sure, if you think my ass is worthy enough for these art school hipsters to hang it in a museum."

"I wasn't aiming for that, you perv." Max laughs while putting the camera in front of her face again.

Though it mainly was a reflex to hide her embarrassment, she might as well take the chance now to finally get a new photo of the actual Bay with the lighthouse in the background. Not that it has changed much since she left, but it contributes to her plan of making new memories here. And against all of her fears, now even with Chloe on her side...

But just when she's about to press the shutter button for a third time this day, her right eye notices the digit in the small counter window next to the viewfinder and she immediately closes the apparatus with a snap.

"Shit, I only have one shot left, are you cereal?"

"Wow, haven't heard that one in a while. Don't you have like an endless hoard of these? Just stop second-guessing yourself and reload!"

Max smiles at her. "I'd really like to, but I store them chilled in our class room which... let's say I lost access to until tomorrow. And I need to save this last shot for someone special."

"Okay wait... So special that Max Caulfield throws away a photo opportunity? Now I'm curious."

She sheepishly looks down and kneads her hands while walking on. "It's... for a girl from Blackwell I share a photography project with. She's really sweet and yesterday asked me to take her picture in return for taking mine."

"Ooh la la." Chloe responds with a knowing gaze and it seems like she'd make more comments on that, but before she can really say anything her stomach audibly speaks up for her.

"Man, I could really need something to eat now. Wanna grab some fries from the harbor stand? It's still a bit of a walk, but I'll treat you."

"Oh, I'd love to! How do I deserve that, though?"

Chloe puts a hand on her shoulder. "You know, it doesn't happen every day that someone comes back into my life. And I definitely don't wanna miss the chance to reconnect with my sister-in-gay."

That confirmation makes her blush a little. "Thanks, Chloe. It makes perfect sense I'd see you today."

* * *

It's about a quarter to four when the ramshackle vehicle pulls up in the Blackwell parking lot again, coming to a stop in front of the thin forest boundary on the far left side of the area. The ride back has been totally different from the first, mostly silent one. No more processing, no more awkward tension between them - just _adult_ Captain bluebeard and Long Max Silver hitting the roads of Arcadia, as if no time had passed at all...

This is especially true for Chloe, since she told her that she still lives in the same house with Joyce who's also still working in the Two Whales. Though, except for that and a few not so lovely words about her stepfather, Max sadly hasn't gotten much more out of her. But this is just their first day and they'll hopefully overcome all the time-built obstacles eventually. At least, nothing in this world could drag her away now for another five years. She is at home.

"Well, here we are." Chloe removes the keys from the ignition lock.

Max turns to her on the seat bench. "Thanks again. It was great hanging out with you today."

"Same... It was hella fun. I hope it's not our last time, though."

Max shakes her head. "Definitely not. Listen, I'm not going to leave you again." She gives her a soft grin. "And even if I'd manage pass all of my exams in first try, you'll find me here for at least a few years."

That puts a genuine smile on Chloe's face. "I hope that's a subtle hint to distract you every now and then from your homework."

"Any time." Max nods and leans forward, asking for another hug.

Chloe immediately returns it, squeezing her back. "I'm so glad you are here again."

"Me too..."

They stay like this for a moment, just appreciating to be so close to one another after all these years, a warm feeling of comfort overcoming Max in her arms, before Chloe suddenly moves her neck up for the rearview mirror.

"Uhm... Say, is that guy lurking and looking over to us from behind the blue car one of your friends?"

"Huh?" She lets go of her again and looks inconspicuously in the exterior mirror on her side. "Oh... that's just Warren. He can be bit weird sometimes. Yesterday, he couldn't stop talking about old-timer cars and that I should try a ride in his someday, so he's probably just interested in your truck."

"Sure..." Chloe slides up a piece of cardboard in front of the window to the bed. "Did he ask anybody else than you?"

"I dunno... I mean, why would I care? He's just a good friend."

"Eh, whatever... If he won't come over..." She leans back in her seat again and taps on the partly tattered cushion. "You still got some time till four. Let's just chill here for a while."

She pulls off her sandy boots and casually drops them out of the window to then place her feet on the dashboard. After a moment's thought, Max does the same, tossing hers in the already dirty footwell and then lies down with bent knees across from her, facing the ceiling.

"No, throw them out of the window."

"Huh? Why?"

"You'll see. Just do it."

"Okay... if you insist..." Max drops them one by one out and thereafter returns to her comfortable position, grabbing her phone to text Kate that she's practically here. Then she just tries to relax for some time...

She admires how the golden afternoon sun rays gently touch the side of Chloe's face and watches the glowing dust particles, floating almost like fireflies in front of her, allowing her eyes to close for a minute... What a crazy day this has been so far. Dropping out of class, seeing Chloe for the first time in five years, and her reacting and taking everything so well... Can this even be real?

Her thoughts get interrupted by the two-tone beep of her phone. She picks it up to see that Kate has sent her a message that she's already at the fountain.

"You have to go?" Chloe asks.

"Yeah... I don't wanna let her wait. Is that okay for you?"

She takes her legs off the dash with a smirk. "Girl, you couldn't shut up about this Kate the whole day since she came up in conversation. Who would I be to stand in your way? Besides, I gotta run a little errand anyway..."

"Thank you so much. For everything." she runs a hand over her shoulder to say goodbye.

They both then open the doors on their sides of the truck to hop out and when Max reaches the ground on her socks, she first has to shake out her hair and hoodie a little to free them from the leaking cushion padding. And although she doesn't remember her laying on it, Chloe got rid of her whole jacket before dismounting.

While pulling on their shoes again, Max notices Warren who's still standing in front of his car, but now seems to be rather rooted to the spot with a totally flushed expression on his face.

"Hey, Warren." She walks a few steps towards him. "Are you okay? You look kinda thoughtful, yet confused."

It seems like he needs to reboot something in his brain before he can answer. "Uh... I..."

"It was hella fun spending time and fooling around with you today! We should do this more often!" Chloe grins, leaning against her truck.

"Oh, of course. I'll call you!" Max waves to her.

For some reason Warren's face has become even more red now. "I... I had no idea you... Uh... Hi first."

"Hi yourself." Max heads for the campus stairs with him. "Were you waiting for me?"

"Yeah... guess I wanted to ask you if... but now... Eh, forget it." He looks kinda disenchanted at the ground for a second. "How was your day? Still can't believe you were told to leave class because of that giant ass Victoria."

She darts him an affirming gaze as they take up the first steps. "Pretty eventful so far. And yes, I try not to think about it that much."

Warren nods. "Man, totally understandable..." He waits for them to reach the corner of the school's swimming pool before talking on. "Well, at least it seems like you were... in good company with that girl you arrived with. She's pretty punk rock, how do you know her?"

"My pirate companion, Chloe Price." she kids. "We haven't seen each other in a while and made up for the lost time today."

"Uh-huh..."

Warren stays rather silent for the rest of the short walk across the campus, their half long shadows preceding them as they pass the pool's entrance and then head for the main one. Looking around, it almost feels like a completely different place when the sun comes from this direction, shifting everything into a warm and comforting yellow orange. The rustling of the remaining leaves gets occasionally drowned by a small drone that circles above the area.  
  
When they're almost there, she can already see Kate sitting on the fountain wall and smiling to her. With a few words Max takes her leave of Warren at the front door and then clears the last steps between them.

"Hey, Kate." she sits down next to her, swinging the bag onto her lap.

"Hi, Max. How are you?"

"I'm fine." she smiles. "I just had a fairly bizarre day so far. I'll tell you all of it later... How about you?"

The corners of Kate's mouth rise up. "I am still blessed from yesterday. Honestly, I haven't slept so well in a while... thanks to you."

"I'm glad to hear that." Max replies with a grin. "Seeing you smile always brightens up my day."

That visibly flatters her. "So does mine when I'm with you. It's sweet that you actually sacrifice some of your free time to help me with this."

"I'm not sacrificing anything, Kate. I really am excited for what you got in mind. So, uhm... You said that you would need my knowledge of place, what did you mean by that?"

"Oh yes, I was thinking of something rather macroscopic for my picture and I need a big space like a wall or so for that. You know your way around here. Do you have any idea where we could do this?"

"Mmmh, let me think..." Max mentally goes through all locations in town that she's aware of from her childhood. "I mean, Blackwell has a whole lot of interesting facade walls, but I guess you want something to draw on..."

"Right." Kate answers before she explains. "It doesn't even have to be a plane surface, though. I just don't wanna accidentally embellish someone's house." she grins.

Max has to giggle a bit. "Maybe we could try it then at the old saw mill. It's an abandoned place near the forest. As far as I remember it's always been scattered with graffiti, but we'll definitely find a suitable spot there."

"I knew I could rely on you." Kate gets a little closer to her. "The next bus should come in about twenty minutes, I think. I'd just wait here until then if you don't mind."

"Sure." Max nods and also inches a bit to her so that their shoulders almost come in touch now. They sit like this for a while, watching students, teachers and basically the whole world pass, as if time had stopped only for them. Being so close to Kate and seeing her smile really feels like heaven on earth.

"Hey, look!" Kate eventually calls, taking her out of her thoughts. She points at the bottom of the brick wall behind her.

Max turns around to notice a beautiful orange and black butterfly which rests on top a white flower next to her shoe, slowly opening and closing its wings.

"Aww, I love butterflies." She leans slightly forward to get a better look on the precious creature, careful to not scare it with her movement.

"Yeah. You know, for me they're the closest beings to angels on earth. I figured you might wanna take a picture of it."

At that Max averts her gaze again and turns back to her. "I'd love to, but... Kate, I kinda screwed up today. I didn't pay attention and only have one photo left for you. And if I ruin this single try... Maybe I should better ask someone to lean us a digital one in case I mess up."

Now Kate closes the tiny gap between them completely and gently squeezes her hand. "Hey, I know you won't. Your shots are always flawless and wonderful to me... Like you."

That sends a warm wave of bliss through her body and she notices how their fingers slowly lace together almost by themselves, those cute hazel eyes fully focused on hers.

"Kate, there's... there's one other thing I wanted to tell you for long..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued...


	4. Metamorphosis

Max's nervousness is kicking in as she watches their two long shadows in front of them. Here she sits in a beautiful castle-like garden, at a beautiful fountain, holding hands with Kate Marsh, but also being so close to the edge of losing her forever.

"I figured..." She tightly holds onto Kate's hand. "I figured yesterday wasn't quite the right time to tell you, regarding what you've already been going through that day, but since... I mean, I just think it is important that you know this about me, because... because I really like you, Kate."

She pauses for a second to wait for her reaction and her heart instantly beats a lot faster as she also tightens her fingers with a smile around hers and caresses her thumb.

"I'm just... I'm scared that you might not want anything to do with me anymore once you know. Can you promise me that you won't judge impulsively about what I'm going to say?"

Kate looks at her with a still warm but also slightly concerned gaze now. "Max, you should know that I'm... I... I mean... How could I judge you..."

She doesn't seem to get any further with the obvious uncertainty in the air, but Kate being the sweet person that she is, she gives her all the time that she needs and turns it another cute moment of silence between them, simply looking into each other's eyes again.

With this and in the hopes that she will keep her uncertain promise, Max then is just about to finally finish her monologue, before a loud slam-opening sound of one of the entrance doors startles both of them.

They reflexively turn their heads in that direction, only to see a blond-haired boy in a red jacket, walking purposefully and angry-looking towards them. There it goes... Her one chance of telling Kate prepared...

It doesn't take her long to recognize the disturber as Nathan Prescott, the son of the most influential family in Arcadia Bay, maybe even Oregon. Anyway, a conceited person like him on his way to talk to her can only mean that she's in trouble...

"Max Caulfield and Kate Marsh, right?" he asks while getting closer.

Neither of the girls answers for an awkward amount of time, until he stands directly in front of them with his fists clenched on each side.

"Answer me! You're the photography priss who embarrassed Vic in front of her whole class today, aren't you?" he points with his scraggy finger at Max.

So that's what this is about. He must be close with her...

"I... No!" she decides to speak up. "I mean, I couldn't help it. It was mostly her fault that we got rebuked."

"You're full of shit!" Nathan calls, visibly struggling to control himself. "I'd respect you more if you told me the truth. So?"

Max doesn't let herself get worked up by that. "I don't need your respect, Nathan." she calmly replies. "Like I said, Victoria brought this on herself by making an unnecessary scene and then just dragged me into it. And you've seriously waited the whole day to find me and bring that up again?"

"Do not analyze me!" he yells as he gets uncomfortably close to her now. "I pay people for that. You're not the first one to try this. Everyone tries. They try..."

"You should talk to somebody, Nathan."

"Shut up and worry about yourself, Max Caulfield. You know best that I wouldn't be here if you hadn't brought Victoria in disrepute just to defend your sect girlfriend's ass." he nods towards Kate.

"W-what? I..."

"Yeah, if I were in your shoes I'd seriously be concerned about her and your future here. My Dad basically owns this school. He owns you. It wouldn't be a surprise if two freshmen teenagers... say overestimated their skills to study here. Did I make myself clear? Huh?"

Now Kate steps in between them and protectively in front of Max. "Take a step back, Nathan Prescott!" she says confidently.

"Oh man, you're telling me what to do?" He seizes her by the collar of her shirt. "You have no idea who I am or who you're messing around with, church girl. I could-"

"Hey!" Chloe suddenly stands behind them, holding her phone up with both hands. "If you don't want this video of what Sean Prescott's respectable son just said to make tomorrow's headlines, I'd immediately get the hell away from them."

"What?!" Being slightly bewildered by that, Nathan lets go of Kate. "N-no way, you just filmed that!"

"Yes, I did. And I'm one click away from sending it to my step-ass security chief. Get lost, dumbass!"

After what seems like a short inner fight with himself, he reluctantly turns away from them, but Max can still hear his furious mumbling as he goes. "Only this time, Caulfield. Only this time..."

They wait until he finally disappears behind the same entrance door that he came through, so the three can all sigh in relief. 

Chloe is the first who then finds her words again. "C'mon, let's get you two out of here." she says before leading them the short way back towards the stairs. Neither Kate nor her replies anything for a while until they've left some safe distance behind them, just then being able to really process what had happened...

"Man, Nathan Prescott is messed up and dangerous." Max states as they eventually set foot on the parking lot. "Thanks, Chloe. That could've turned ugly without you having something on him."

"Oh, that was just a little bluff." she smiles. "I had to quickly come up with something to scare him away, you know."

"Anyway, from my side too... uh, Chloe." Kate also expresses her thanks. "That was just great."

"It was nothing. Really." she replies casually. "Kate, right? Say, what the hell did that freak want with you?"

"Well, this was actually a bit my fault." Max answers her. "He was mad, because I kinda accidentally got Victoria and me kicked out of class today."

"Damn, sister!" Chloe claps her shoulder as they approach her truck. "You just achieved what I haven't managed in so long, when I still went here."

"So, uhm... You know each other?" Kate asks.

"Yep. Basically since this girl's birth." she gives Max a smirk. "We grew up here two streets apart from each other, until one day she just decided to trip into my glorious sand castle. The rest is history..."

She takes a moment to think. "Oh, then you are the one she had told about yesterday at the lighthouse spot?"

"Mmhm." Max nods. "We kinda stumbled into one another in the school's bathroom today."

"And it was a hell of a surprise, not gonna lie." Chloe adds, although she quickly seems to notice the following long seconds of silence from Max. "Uhm, anyway..." She taps on the roof of her truck. "Where to go? Can I drive you two somewhere?" 

"Oh, uh, actually... Well, that would be nice..." Kate shyly replies. "Max and I were just about to head for the saw mill, right?"

"Yeah, we are hoping to find an empty wall or something there that she can draw on for our project."

"Good thinking, actually." Chloe hops into her seat. "But I might know an even better place for this..."

* * *

After all three of them got into her truck and then were driving for a long time northwards on the main road, leaving the town center behind them and almost reaching the parking lot of the café they were in yesterday, Chloe suddenly slows down in the middle of the forest to steer the vehicle into a wide field path on the right.

Although the old car's suspension seemingly still does its best, it isn't that pleasant of an experience for Max to sit in the beltless middle seat. The truck makes it way up a gently sloping dirt road, until it finally enters a huge clearing with the ground luckily being not that bumpy anymore. Even though Chloe and her basically had painted the whole Bay red from a young age on, Max has never been here before. At least she doesn't remember.

And as they drive on, she sees the reason for that as soon as they pass by an old and already kinked sign, indicating that this is an active scrap recycling facility. Though, the bold letter note that unauthorized access is forbidden doesn't seem to bother Chloe at all. Looking around, it doesn't appear like they're heading towards something like that anyway. Just bits of field and forest and...

Suddenly, a large broken metal gate comes in sight behind some trees, revealing another smaller clearing with a severed power line above. As they get closer, Max can actually make out the first of many car wrecks, including a run down school bus, mountains of piled up rims and a fishing boat? This place seems to be more like a junk yard...

Chloe brings the truck to a stop, parking it right between the two entrance jambs and then doesn't waste a single second to open her door. It seems like she can't wait to show them the site...

"Welcome to American Rust, my home away from hell." she says after hopping off and turning once on her own axis.

She waits for Kate and her to get off too and both first take a moment to look around themselves. 

Broken things, metal, beer bottles and cars as far as the eye can see. This place somehow suits her.

"You didn't get your truck from here, did you?" Max asks sarcastically.

"What if?" Chloe laughs. "Wouldn't you have gotten in then?"

"No, it's just... Wait, you actually managed to get one of these wrecks running again? I was just joking, but that's awesome!"

"Yeah, you got me." she nods. "Took me some good time and exploiting everything else around here, but now it's working as smooth as a baby."

"That's so cool! I didn't know you were that into mechanics. But uhm... Why exactly did you bring us here? This is a junk yard, right? I mean, it doesn't look like there is one single surface without a bump or rust hole." she smirks.

This makes Kate giggle a bit. "Ah, we'll find something. It really doesn't have to be that perfect."

"Yeah, just wait and see." Chloe replies and then proceeds going ahead.

She leads the two into a narrow path between mountains of scrap and somewhere towards the drained boat that Max has already seen from far away, which almost looks like it would swim in the waves of junk now. On their way there, she counts at least five different generations of toasters and washing machines on the sides, one a decade older looking than the other. She wonders at what time exactly that sign from earlier must've applied, if it ever did...

When they're passing by the once probably blue but now moss-grown hull, her thoughts suddenly gets roused by the ground that somehow begins to shake a little. And before she can really ask herself why, only a few seconds later an actual freight train rushes past in the back of the clearing.

Although being slightly astonished by that at first, Max now finally has an idea of where they are. Chloe and her had just always come from the other side back then to play in this forest. The train tracks were the red line they'd promised their parents to never cross nor get near to. This town really is way smaller than one might think...

After the short moment of surprise, the three then make it around the boat and get offered free view on a somewhat cleaner area of the place. A half moldered stone building appears standing in the middle, partly hidden behind layers of stacked up car wrecks. Its entrance doesn't even have a door anymore and in some spots bricks are missing in the walls.

"Is that it?" Kate asks, pointing at the side of the house.

"Yep." Chloe replies. "Welcome to the secret palace of my realm. A land where origin and property is just a construct, currencies become worthless, sister helps sister and no more laws exists, except not eating my chips while I'm gone."

Kate has to giggle again. "Sounds like there's a story."

"Yeah..." she gives her smile. "Used to chill here a lot with someone when Max was still in Seattle." She walks a bit further and then makes herself comfortable on a nearby hood, leaning back on it with her hands behind her head. "You two can let yourself loose artistically on the outside. It's all yours."

Hearing that, Max and her just share a delighted gaze with one another. She can immediately tell from the glow in Kate's eyes that she didn't need to be told twice.

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" Max darts her an encouraging look. "You can do this! I still believe in you."

"Thanks, Max." she smiles at her and then turns around one last time. "And you didn't promise too much, Chloe. That's more than I need for what I've planned."

"Sure, no problem." she says towards the sky.

After a while of just admiring the appearance of the building, glowing in the low afternoon sun in front of them, the two then go on together to take a closer look at it. They begin by searching for a good spot with not that many gaps on the averted sides since the walls there generally seem to be a bit more intact. And as they've made it fully around once, the right one with a sole but coverable hole in the middle turns out to be the best promising choice. 

Certainly, this is also the one with the most scrap leaned against it. So, Kate and her have to start by first clearing some of the interfering stuff away. Apart from a lot of smaller parts and trash, a bunch of rotten planks have to bite the dust, as well as a couple of rusty body components and at last an apparently never attached rainwater gutter. After that, the only thing remaining is to carry off a small pile of stone bricks, but leaving two of them there to fill the gap in an at least improvised way.

When they're just about finished with their work and everything is actually ready to do what they've planned, she watches how Kate initially plucks a few white flowers from the ground, to first put one in her own hair and then walk over to Max to do the same.

She could literally melt in this adorable moment as she carefully sticks the flower with both hands into her hair. Though, before she truly realizes what just happened and her blush could've become too visible to her, Kate has already turned back to the wall again to begin with her work.

Max has to sit down for a second at a tree stump a bit away from her to cool the giant grin on her face off. That was the cutest thing someone has ever done for her.

She watches Kate standing in front of the still empty surface, pulling a little plastic bag out of her purse which contains a few black and white sticks of street chalk or something similar. She fetches one of them from it and stretches her arm out to start drawing.

But before applying even one dot, Kate lets it down again and seems to reconsider something. She turns around to Max with a smile, who doesn't really know what to do but give her an encouraging thumbs up. 

With or because of that, she finally goes for it for real. The first few lines appear rather chaotic and random to her, but whatever it will be, she can already tell that it's definitely going to be symmetrical as Kate mirrors every single one of her strokes. Amazingly, she makes this look so easy compared to when Max thinks about the poor stick figures that she had managed to draw on the driveway of her old home. Every now and then she even has to get herself a wooden box to reach stuff that's way above her height. She really hasn't exaggerated when she said that it would get macroscopic...

As time progresses and more and more dense black lines grow to the sides, each pair of them becoming oval-like shapes in the end, Max eventually and slowly is getting an idea of what this whole structure will be. Her next couple of strokes for the thicker outlines only add to that suspicion, as Chloe suddenly sits down next to her at the stump.

"I must say, your girlfriend's hella cute." she says it so that Kate can't hear her over the distance.

"She is." Max replies in thoughts. "Wait, I mean... She isn't my... I..." She lets out a sigh. "I mean, I wish. But she isn't."

"Yeah, I see that." Chloe responds sarcastically and taps the same position of her hair where the flower must be in hers. "C'mon, I can already tell by the way you look at each other."

Max pulls her knees only closer to herself. "I know... But what if she is just being nice to me?"

"Max... Max, really?" She rolls her eyes. "Holding hands at the fountain earlier isn't exactly the most friendly thing to do."

"So, you did watch us..." she just remarks.

"Uhh, yeah..." Chloe averts her gaze slightly, running a finger over the ground next to her. "Just wanted to make sure that Kate treats you right, you know... But that's certain for me now."

Max sighs at that again. "I wish it were that clear for me too... I mean, after all we both know us for no more than like three days."

"Hey..." Chloe tries to cheer her up. "Have you never heard of the lesbian time dilation effect? For us, three days are the equal of maybe half a year in straight time. I don't make the rules, it's the gay relativity theory. Also applies to distance contraction..."

This makes her giggle a little. "Okay, okay, can't argue against Einstein..."

"You better not." Chloe smiles at her. "I'd just not play Dungeons and Dragons with him..."

She lets her view wander around the area for a while, then eventually checks something on her phone and tenses her arms to support herself on her hands. 

"Well... Speaking of gay, I'm gonna go and do some gay stuff right now. And by that I totally do not mean sitting alone in my room and reading a stack of fanfics or so. You two talk to each other, okay?"

Max doesn't get a chance to answer her, before Chloe rises up and then goes over to Kate to let her know too.

"I think, I'll make tracks now." she calls. "Still gotta do a little errand this evening."

Kate turns around to her. "Oh, yeah of course." she kindly replies. "It was really nice to meet you, Chloe. And thanks again for stepping in today."

"Hehe, no problem." She sheepishly touches the back of her neck. "And same here. You two get along, right? The next bus stop is just down the road."

"Yeah, we know." Max responds. "Kate and I got off there just yesterday."

"Well, then..." She waves with her car keys in her hand. "Take care! And good luck with the butterfly, Kate. Looks awesome already!"

* * *

  
White colossal angelic wings, traversed by black veins spreading like tree branches to the sides with an actual angel named Kate Marsh right between them...

It took her another half an hour to completely finish it after Chloe had taken her leave from them, but especially the final touches have added so much more haptic realness to it, that you could almost think she'd be able to fly away any moment.

"And?" Kate asks with a bright smile on her face.

"Wowser!" Max marvels, getting over to her to take a closer look. "It's fantastic, Kate! You seriously are amazing!"

That makes her beam with joy. "I'm glad you like it."

"Of course I do. And it suits you so well, given that you create your own worlds by drawing." Max runs a hand over her shoulder. "You are a great artist."

Kate cannot hide her blush from that. "Thank you. You're the first one to ever say this."

"Because it's true." she replies. "And others will think so too as soon as they get to see your work. So, want me to finally take your picture?" she grins.

Kate returns it. "Yes."

Max gets the camera from her bag and goes a few steps back to make sure to have everything in the frame. She got only one shot, after all. She waits for Kate to position herself between the wings again and meanwhile checks the lighting.

The clouds seem rather like a cover by now, but the evening sun is already below them, creating beautiful colored stripes in the sky. So, there should be no risk of sudden changes to it anymore. Max brings the viewfinder to her eye, fully focusing on what's in front of her lens.

A butterfly with white wings... God, if there's a heaven, it's wherever Kate is.

Only a few seconds later, the sound of the ejecting image fills the ambience and with it grows the slight tension that it hopefully turns out to be worthy of her work. Although Kate is such a good person, she'd probably even accept it if there were a finger on it... She puts both, the camera and the not yet developed picture back into her bag and then returns to her, just to give her a hug.

In response, Kate immediately presses herself against Max, stronger than ever before. They stay like this for a long while, enjoying the embrace and warmth of each other, heads resting side by side with their chins on the opposite's shoulder, until eventually the first few drops hit their arms...

"Hey, perfect timing." Kate says, looking up into the sky.

Max watches the number of dark gray spots gradually increasing on the sleeve of her hoodie as she lets go of her. "Oh, too bad about your drawing, though."

Wordlessly, they both turn to admire the beautiful artwork behind them at least once more. But soon after Kate's gaze falls directly into her eyes again.

"It doesn't matter. You just captured it forever in time for me. This means so much more than anything else in this world."

At that, there's another sweet moment of silence in which they just focus on one another's face for a whole minute, their hands slowly starting to move closer and closer together and then finally find each other for the second time this day. Both of them visibly grin from ear to ear as their fingers interlace.

"S-so, uh..." Kate shyly begins. "Wanna head back before it comes down in buckets? We could make us a warm cup of tea and maybe watch a movie if you like..."

Max just beams. "Yes, that sounds great."

Kate smiles back at her. And more hovering than walking, they jointly make their way across the junk yard, leaving the stone building behind them and shorty afterwards pass by the fishing boat again. It feels wonderful to be able to hold her hand this whole time. One can even easily forget about the rain thereby...

When they're approaching the metal gate to the dirt road though, the heavens must've decided to literally open up above them. Their steps quicken a little, but they will certainly be completely soaked before even getting on the bus. Unless...

"Hang on, Kate." She stops with her. "How about we..." With a smile on her face, Max nods towards the old school bus wreck next to them.

Kate immediately understands. She gigglingly accompanies her to the broken door and then climbs inside with her, their hands never leaving one another.

Once in the dry, they first examine the ramshackle interior, searching for some comfortable place to sit. A couple of the grabpoles lie sideways in the middle of the cabin, but other than that everything still seems to be pretty intact. Max and her then choose the seat bench all the way in the back and sit down on the old cushion with no more space between them.

They snuggle there next to the paneless window and just look outside through it while the rain patters on the rusty metal roof above. It's an indescribably sweet atmosphere overall, just the two of them being trapped by the weather in a whole bus for themselves and still so amazingly close together. She could so get used to all of this... But what exactly are they right now?

Max thinks about this for quite a while, noticing how in the meantime her head ends up more and more leaning against Kate's. It's really like there were a magnetic force occurring between them...

Eventually, she remembers that she still has something to give to her. With her free hand she fetches the photo which should be ready by now out of her bag and first holds it upside-down in front of them so that they both simultaneously get to see the result.

"Jeez, this is awesome!" Kate marvels as she turns it around. "Thank you."

"You brought this to life, Kate." Max softly strokes her thumb. "This is your work. I just tried to capture all of its magic in the best way possible for you."

She blushes even more at that. "And you did. Like you always manage to put a smile on my face when we're together... You mean so much to me, Max."

"You too, Kate."

"Seriously, you have been so good to me this week and I've felt this... this you know... Can I kiss you?"

Max's heart starts racing, followed by a flash of warmth that propagates through her whole body. She wanted this for so long and is already about to say yes. But then an alarm goes off in the back of her head, reminding her of the hard truth...

She isn't what Kate expects. She might not want someone like her, might not even say that right now if she knew...

"Kate, I... I just... I want this so much, but... but you, you probably wouldn't-" Max senses the first tear rolling down her face, trying to sort the mess of her words. "There are things you don't know about me. I wanted to tell you at the right time... but I was and still am so scared of losing you because of this..."

She isn't able to get any further and Kate seems like she needs a moment to process what she just said to her.

"You think I wouldn't love you... because you are trans?"

"W-w-what? How did you..."

She squeezes her hand a little tighter. "Max, I've known since you first showed me your photo wall. You were always so evasive when it was about your past and everything made sense when I saw it right in front of me there. I could tell that you didn't want me to know, but... but then why did you hang up a picture of you, wearing a trans bracelet?" she smiles.

"I... I did?" She wipes the tears off of her face with a bit of hope. "I... I must admit, I didn't pay attention to that kinda detail when hanging them up. Damn, I think I remember that pic..." Her gaze manages to come back up again now. "Wait... Does this mean you wouldn't mind?"

Kate's lips turn into the biggest smile she has ever seen on her face. "You know... neither angels nor butterflies come into the world as such either. Remember that call yesterday? And the whole drama with my parents... Well, it all kinda started because my mom found my own pills, four months ago."

"W-wait what?! You... you mean..."

She grins sheepishly. "Yes. I came out as trans two years before that. But especially my mom never really accepted me as her daughter. I basically had to fight day by day to keep her from trashing my clothes or cutting my hair. And as soon as I turned eighteen last month, I left."

Max is totally astounded. "Jesus, Kate..." She softly strokes her shoulders. "You're awesome! I can't imagine how hard that must've been. But why didn't you say anything if you knew we both are?"

Kate averts her gaze a little. "Before this afternoon I just wasn't sure if you... I mean, you already meant a lot more to me than a friend before I found out. And since you seemed to be so stealth about everything then, I didn't want to risk invalidating you in case you were straight."

Max can't stop grinning. "Me, straight? Kate, I've had a crush on you since our first evening together. You always make me smile and feel like you actually care about me. And being around you makes me so incredibly happy. Plus, can I just say that you're like really damn cute!" she beams at her.

Kate blushes again while returning it and her head inches a lot closer to her. "I love you, Max."

"I love you too, Kate." she replies, then shortly afterwards feels a hand softly digging into her hair.

They both continue to move forward, Kate's beautiful eyes fully focused on hers, only to notice them and her own slowly shut while getting closer and closer to her face, until their lips finally touch.

Her kiss feels so mellow and warm, causing a swarm of thousand butterflies in her stomach. And the best thing is that she can feel Kate's smile on her own lips, bringing hers to do the same. Nothing could describe this right now...

After a wonderful while they open their eyes again, slowly pulling a bit away from each other, but with their foreheads still in touch and both grinning like a couple of dorks.

"I love you so much, Kate!" Max wraps her arms around her. "I've wanted this for so long."

"Me too, Max." Kate squeezes her back. "Me too..."

Followed by a second even longer kiss, they both lean back into the cushion again and put an arm around one another. Their heads are resting completely on their shoulders now as the two look through the window into the gradually darker getting forest glade.

Her first _and second_ ever kiss, so much worth the wait... 

Another beautiful while goes by whereupon she notices that the rain has decreased a little, but it still gently bickers on the metal roof of the bus and into the puddles outside. With the disappearance of the last autumn sun rays behind the trees it must actually have gotten slightly colder too, but that's probably hard to notice when you're snuggling with Kate Marsh.

Given that the rural area they're in could in the next half an hour become too dark to see though, Kate and her agree that it would be best to venture their way back to Blackwell now.

"I guess, we'll just have to run a little." Max smiles at her as she puts the strap of her bag on and gets up.

"Yeah, I think so." Kate grins, following suit. 

Before hopping off the disused vehicle, she holds her hand out for her again and Max immediately takes it. They hurry hand in hand through the mild rain, down towards the main road and ultimately manage to take shelter at the bus stop from yesterday. Kate and her wait there for the driving one, only to then choose the same rear spot in it...

Arriving at the dormitories, they first decide to get out of the dripping clothes and instead slip into their comfortable pajamas. Max then quickly fetches the laptop from her room and returns to Kate's one, so the two can bear Alice some company during their movie night.

When she closes the door behind her, the small black and white bunny has already cozied up with Kate on top of a few pillows on the floor.

"Is there still room for one more?" Max smirks at her.

"Always." Kate returns it, lifting Alice onto her lap.

Max then sits down next to her and after also petting the bunnies head for a moment, she sets everything up. The movie they end up watching is The Hunger Games, because Kate tells that it was this book and another film which gave her the most inspiration for her name.

As it plays, Max gently puts an arm around her to pull her close again and she responds by laying her head on her shoulder. Kate's beautiful soft hair remains touching the side of her cheek for the full duration of the movie and at the end Max can just think about what a day this has been...

It's getting really late when she finally closes the laptop in front of them, stretching her arms towards the ceiling with a good yawn. Kate seems to get up a little more energetically from the floor, though.

"I got something to show you..."

She watches her going over to her desk and opening one of the drawers, only to come back and sit down on the edge of her bed with a painted piece of paper. Max curiously seats herself next to her. And the cartoonish drawing that she thereafter gets presented shows the two from behind, sitting on the old bench at the lighthouse and in front of the ocean in golden hour light.

"Wow, I... I don't know what to say. This is so amazing and sweet of you, Kate. God, I love you." She softly runs a hand through her hair, still feeling so much bliss just to be able to say that.

"I love you too, Max." she replies, putting the drawing aside.

They share another wonderful good-night kiss before letting themselves tip over sideways onto the bed. Kate then pulls the blanket over both of them and reaches for the bedside lamp to switch it off. The two still cuddle with each other for about an hour or so, until they eventually fall asleep together. As girlfriends...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Two queens in a king-sized bed  
> Like angels in the snow  
> My only wish is one more year  
> And then I want them all  
> Your freckled cheeks, our tangled feet  
> The closer, the better it gets  
> So let's stay right here  
> Until forever disappears"
> 
> \-- Girl in Red. "Two queens in a king sized bed."
> 
> Finally! I hope it wasn't too obvious from the hints I gave in the first chapters. This last bus scene was actually one of the first I scripted for this fic, so let me know if you expected it :)
> 
> Also, I have just started a [Tiny Max AU](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28940064/chapters/71009394). You might wanna check that out as well.


End file.
